ST KILDA has turned to leadership consulting group Leading Teams in an attempt to improve the culture of its playing squad.

AFL.com.au understands former Saint Justin Peckett, who has been a facilitator with Leading Teams since 2001, will oversee the performance improvement program' at the club.

The Saints have endured two years of upheaval, which began when former coach Ross Lyon defected to Fremantle. Lyon's replacement, Scott Watters, was sacked last month.

Off-field indiscretions have also dogged St Kilda's playing group for some time, with this year's end-of-season party, during which a dwarf entertainer was set alight, the latest in a long line of dramas.

New senior coach Alan Richardson, who was appointed to replace Watters on November 14, has been one of the driving forces behind the club's decision to employ Leading Teams.

Along with winning games, Richardson needs to encourage a new group of leaders to emerge from the shadow of long-time skipper Nick Riewoldt.

Richardson most recently worked with Leading Teams when he was an assistant coach under Brett Ratten at Carlton.

It is the third time the organisation has been employed by St Kilda.

Leading Teams' founder, Ray McLean, worked at the Saints during the coaching tenure of Stan Alves. McLean then returned to the club when Grant Thomas was senior coach.

This time, however, Peckett will facilitate the program.

A tough and durable small defender, the 41-year-old father of seven played 252 games for St Kilda between 1992 and 2006.

He began working for Leading Teams during the latter stages of his playing career, and mixed work with study in his first couple of years after retiring.

Peckett completed a Masters of Business Management Practice, specialising in organisational change and development, at Melbourne's Victoria University, then became a full-time facilitator with Leading Teams.

Outside of the sport, he has implemented leadership programs at a number of high-profile businesses, including Virgin Australia, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Quicksilver and Nike.

Of the teams that finished in the top four places on the AFL ladder this year, three of them - Hawthorn, Fremantle and the Sydney Swans - used Leading Teams.

The fourth, Geelong, employed former Leading Teams facilitator Gerard Murphy to run its leadership program.

Along with the St Kilda, Leading Teams will next season work with the Hawks, Dockers, Swans, Collingwood and Melbourne.